Speakers

When I reviewed the £1,390 Devialet Phantom speaker three years ago, it blew my mind. The company just came out with a shrunken-down version for about half the price called the Phantom Reactor. It is also quite impressive, mainly because it’s so little and so loud. That doesn’t mean the Phantom Reactor is the best-sounding wireless speaker money can buy, though. I don’t even think it’s my favourite. Read More >>

One of the most exciting innovations for home entertainment is Dolby Atmos. The technology adds an element of height to the audio coming out of your sound system, and the effect is honestly game-changing. Vizio has a wacky idea about how to make Atmos even better. What if your soundbar could do Atmos at will? Or, more specifically, what if your soundbar could swivel like a sassy robot and adjust itself to whatever you’re watching? Read More >>

A new filing with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has revealed some details about a new Sonos product. The redacted documents show that a new model number S18 smart speaker will work as satellites for the company’s soundbars to create a surround sound system and will also include built-in microphones for far-field voice control. If what the FCC filing suggests is true, this could be an interesting move for Sonos. And honestly, it’s probably true. Read More >>

The idea seemed silly at first. Bose made an Alexa-powered wireless speaker with a little screen, a big £400 price tag and a promise “to fill any room with an astonishing stereo performance.” I’ve been using the Bose Home Speaker 500 for a little more than a month, and there are a few things I don’t like about it. But it sure does sounds great. Read More >>

It was a bit of a surprise earlier this year when Roku announced that it would be selling wireless speakers. The popular maker of platform-agnostic set-top boxes is certainly no stranger to home entertainment, but the idea that it would soon start to compete with Sonos, well, that seemed crazy. Having spent some time with the new soundbar alternative, I can say that Roku is doing something more intriguing with the Roku TV Wireless Speakers. It’s built a custom sound system that works curiously well with Roku TVs. The only downside is that the speakers don’t really work at all with any other TV or wireless audio system. Innovation is a weird beast, I guess. Read More >>

In recent years, portable Bluetooth speakers have become essential gadgets for modern living. Going into the woods and want to listen to some Phish? Get a speaker. Want to listen to podcasts in the shower? Use a Bluetooth solution. But beyond being so useful, what’s exciting about Bluetooth speakers these days is the fact that you can get an excellent Bluetooth speaker for cheap. Heck, get one for a friend, too! Read More >>

Optimus Prime and Grimlock were among the most popular Transformers characters from the original animated series, but Soundwave, who spoke like he’d swallowed a synthesizer, was undoubtedly every kid’s favourite. I still have the original toy, but as an adult, I want this custom Soundwave-shaped boombox even more. Read More >>

Soundbars are a relatively new invention. The 5.1 surround sound setup—one left speaker, one centre, one right, and two rear—used to be the most popular way to improve your home cinema’s audio, and it tended to be pretty expensive. Then, in 1998, Altec-Lansing released the world’s first soundbar and changed the way living rooms worked. It’s been two decades since, and thanks to a weird consequence of innovation, pretty much all TVs now require a soundbar. Read More >>

The solution to few of life’s problems can be found at the bottom of a bottle, except, maybe, the poor sound quality from tiny wireless speakers. The creators of the portable Sodapop speaker promise that by simply attaching an empty plastic bottle, you can increase its loudness and bass by almost 10 decibels. Read More >>

Ever wonder why your wifi router just sits there, delivering you sweet access to the whole internet but not much more? Netgear evidently realizes that people like multipurpose gadgets because it’s now offering an Orbi wifi router with a built-in Harman Kardon speaker and Amazon Alexa capabilities. It’s like a pumped up Echo, in a really weird way. Read More >>

Marshall might be a brand name you’re most used to associating with guitar amps, but more recently the company has branched out into headphones, home speakers, and even fridges, apparently. Read More >>

It’s incredibly hard to take a great design and make it meaningfully better. But it looks like Ultimate Ears has done just that with the new UE Boom 3 and the UE Megaboom 3. Gone is the rough fabric exterior and clunky rubber band. Here is a super sleek waterproof, drop-proof, sand-proof, and blogger-proof Bluetooth speaker that also has few new tricks. Read More >>

While smart speakers aren’t exactly new, the battle for AI-powered audio supremacy is just heating up, and in the past year we’ve seen a number of high-end AI-speaker systems hit the market including the Sonos One, the Apple HomePod and the Google Home Max. However, even with all these new entries, there was still a noticeable absence left by one of the biggest names in home audio: Bose. Read More >>

Smart soundbars are an interesting idea. They’re like smart speakers, except they work with your TV, so you can use your voice like a remote control. Neat! In January, Polk wowed CES attendees with its new Command Bar. Put bluntly, this smart device is a big honking soundbar with an Amazon Echo Dot stuffed inside of it. That means the Command Bar can do anything an Echo Dot can do as well as a few extra tricks. It’s pretty ugly, too. Read More >>

As has been rumoured ever since Samsung originally launched Bixby, the company just confirmed that a Bixby-powered smart speaker is on the way. Meet the Galaxy Home, a speaker powered by an AI that even Samsung had trouble hyping to the Galaxy Unpacked crowd. Oh, fucking joy. Read More >>